Lifehacker reader slowurroll offers the following advice on getting out tough carpet stains:

Due to sometimes being a natural klutz and sometimes intoxication-induced kutzery, I've learned to manage all variety of carpet stains. However, some of those stains weren't cleaned up right away and seemed to be a lost cause until one day a professional carpet cleaner showed me how to remove even months-old kool-aid (or similar) stains with an iron.

He sprayed the old stain with a solution, then laid a damp terry cloth towel over it. Then, using the steam setting on an iron, ironed over the damp towel. It restored the carpet to nearly the previous non-stained condition. He gave me a bottle of that solution, but said it was proprietary and couldn't be purchased off the shelf. Some Google research has shown that the same thing can be done with a mixture of 1/4 white vinegar and 3/4 water.

Another clever use for your iron is removing wax from carpeting and cloth. If you spill candle wax, cover it with a few paper towels and gently iron it on a low heat. The wax will liquefy and wick up into the paper towel—I've used this trick on everything from carpet to wool suits.

Have a clever cleaning trick to share? Let's hear about it in the comments. Thanks slowurroll!